TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida came under continued fire from the opposition camp on Tuesday over allegations that his son used taxpayers’ money for sightseeing trips overseas while on official duty.
Mr Shotaro Kishida, 32, who serves as the Prime Minister’s secretary, was alleged by the Shukan Shincho magazine to have visited tourist hot spots in Paris, London and Ottawa at the expense of taxpayers, and to have used a government-owned vehicle, all while the Prime Minister was carrying out official duties overseas in January.
The allegations have dealt a further blow to the already slumping approval ratings for Mr Kishida’s Cabinet, following a number of high-profile ministerial resignations over funding scandals, gaffes and links to a shady religious organisation.
The Cabinet’s ratings have also taken a major hit from the administration’s contentious and publicly denounced plan to raise taxes to fund an unprecedented increase in the country’s defence spending.
According to local media polls last December, the prior controversies led to the approval ratings dropping to around the 30 per cent mark, the lowest level since Mr Kishida launched his Cabinet in October 2021, below the level of what has historically been the harbinger of the end of a prime minister’s tenure.
The Japanese leader caught flak last October when he handpicked his eldest son to serve as his executive secretary, sparking accusations of nepotism from the opposition bloc, as well as the public.
The latest headache for Mr Kishida follows his week-long trip to Britain, Canada, France, Italy and the United States, ahead of the Group of Seven summit in May, which is to be held in Hiroshima prefecture – his constituency.
At a parliamentary committee session on Tuesday, Mr Kishida refused to definitively comment on his son’s actions despite being grilled by the opposition.
He told a Lower House budget committee session that his son, who had been shopping at the Harrods department store in London during the Prime Minister’s five-country tour, had done so for other Cabinet ministers.
The elder Mr Kishida said his son had bought items on his behalf “for all the ministers… and (I paid for them) out of my own pocket”. XINHUA
